Facebook

I am a neophyte on this phenomena Facebook. I attempt to follow the info on it, sometimes I get it, often I am sort of lost. However, today I followed a note about a Mustang roundup out West by the Bureau of Land Management that sounded truly awful. I thought they had stopped that sort of barbaric cleansing eons ago- that it had gone the way of the John Wayne/ James Dean movie. Remember in Giant, the horrific mustang chase scene and Marilyn Monroe crying. Anyway I hope the support keeps coming for the people who are trying to stop this. They also mentioned a wolf hunt, which I also hope they stop. I will offer to spread the word so the BLM can be inundated with e-mails decrying these practices.

In this sense Facebook can be a wonder. We will make this a smaller world in which we connect in ways that never would have been possible before. I am trying to use this tool!. My daughter is helping, she lets me Facebook befriend her, my younger son said No! He does not want me to see His page. My older son has deleted his page, says it is a waste. So I am trying to figure out a happy medium. We shall see what happens.

Thunderstorms

I was going to write about going to the track this morning to watch my two-year old work. I love going to the track and it was a lovely morning, the rain holding off. The filly worked an easy 37.00 three furloughs. So said, what was much more exciting was the thunderstorm I was just caught in , while feeding this afternoon.

I was trying to get up to Annapolis early, as I have a bridal shower on Sunday to shop for. So, I hurried up working the yearlings, cutting corners and baths and I rushed to get everyone fed early. The whole time I am watching the sky as it gets darker and darker. I load up the Gator and I'm standing in the shedrow debating the wisdom of going down to the back fields to the mares. The thunder is ominous but still a little way off. You see if I get everybody fed now, I can meet Mike, my husband for dinner and an evening out!! Joy.

So, I am motivated to chance the storm. Well, Bean, my Yorkshire terrier is also worried about the storm. He and Bella, our Schnoodle (Schnauzer/Poodle-awesome combination) hate thunderstorms . But he,Bean, is not about to face one alone in the barn so he hops on the Gator and we go. I get about 30 feet and there is the loudest crack and a huge lightning bolt by the front gate. I stop under a tree and go ,"oh sh__". The rain is starting but it is not so bad, so I think I can make it. Stupid me! Anyway I keep going ,throw the feed into the geldings buckets, who are smart enough to not leave their run-in shed. Hugging the fence and trees I continue down the hill to the weanlings . I have a little more sense and feed them in the run-in shed even tho' they're spooked and bumping into everything. Now, it is pouring buckets, we are both soaked and I wonder at the wisdom of this. I cross the bridge , which was just put back into place from the last storm, and head for the mares. Now the lightning is much closer and it is raining so hard I feel like I am swimming with clothes on. Bean is so scared he is whimpering and I am getting scared. I wait by the fence, standing under some big trees, trying to remember what Bear Grylls, the survivor guy said about lightning storms. Do you get under trees or not? Can't remember. I think I remember you are supposed to lie down. Well that would mean lying down in a raging stream as the water is racing down the hill to where we are, I don't want to get hit by lightning but I don't want to drown either. There is so much wind and rain and lightning that I am really worried. I am afraid to run back because I have to cross the stream and I think lightning likes water. I am under the trees, watching the wind just push the treetops around violently, hanging onto to my Yorkie, praying the storm keeps going away.

Thankfully, the thunder starts to sound further away from the lightning strikes and the rain lessens a little. I gulp, throw the feed into the mares buckets, dumping two inches of rain out first. Then I turn the gator around and dash for the barn. Bella greets us, dancing excitedly like it was all great fun. I am just thankful I didn't get hit by lightning and I realize what a stupid thing I had done.

Now I am on my way to Sam's, to buy food for Sunday and I guess I'll write about the track later.

Girlfriends

It is that wonderful time of morning when the color is just entering the world. The trees are turning from black to the richest greens, even Maryland is lush this time of morning. I feel I can sit quietly and simply breathe in the sounds; the cricket hum, the rough caw of a raven, the softest tweets of some unidentified bird, the huffings of the horses ( I might have made up that word). It is a wondrous world for this moment .

Last night I told my book club girlfriends ( we are women friends of various ages-but girlfriends has the meaning I want) that I was writing a blog. Originally to let my daughter in California know what was going on at the farm, now this blog has become a lovely way for me to pause in my day and (usually) be thankful for my life. Which brings me to girlfriends. I am very grateful for my girlfriends. They asked if I would write about them and I said," Oh no, I wouldn't mention any one, that is someone else's life." But, this morning I realized that they are a special part of my life and what a nice way to let them all know that they are important to me. Even when we disagree, even when we argue over what books to read or what is the best way to do anything, even when we air our little hurts or disparage one another slightly it is done with love and respect. My girlfriends bring a wider world to me. Their viewpoints are different than mine, Thank God, or I would never open my eyes to new things. They keep me in check and remind me that sometimes I'm wrong! It is always easier to hear that from them than my husband (fancy that). They let me know that after my car accident they were worried about me, we worry together for friends that are having tough times, we wonder together how we can help. This started as a "horsey" book club because we all ride horses. Some of us foxhunt together, some of us race horses, or do dressage. Horses are in all our lives, so when one of our friends breaks a leg or has a fall we all offer to feed or muck , way before we offer to ook. And we all think that is a good thing! So, I'm thankful for my girlfriends , they enrich me.

Tuesday evening 8/25

Walked hounds this morning-still trying to remember the "P" young entry. There is a Potomac, and a Patuxent. The way to tell them apart is that one has two black spots on their back with a narrow white strip separating them. This represents the Potomac River separating Virginia and Maryland. The other one is Patuxent (Tux)- no definitive white strip . This is great, but I need to do this with 12 new entry. It becomes confusing as they are all white with black spots or white with brown spots or blue ticks etc. Somrtimes, as a whip, I only know the troublemakers for sure.

The yearlings are looking good. The sales have been dismal so the only way to stand out is to look like a million bucks. I keep trying but some days are difficult. Thought I had found a good home for Mig (our timber horse)but it didn't work out. On the other hand , there are some positives today.

The other insurance company ( car accident) did accept responsibility, so I can order a new Mini. My 4-yr old is progressing well and I got the entry today for the Foxhunter Field Championships which I look forward to every year. A week of hunting in Virginia- big fences, lots of running and jumping and great Virginians. I have a great time every year.

Monday night 8/24

Time flies. I try to get to this and suddenly it is 9PM. I wanted to write about the two little Dachsunds I watched chasing a deer across my back pastures. Now, I live pretty far back from any homes and Friday I am feeding, watching the weanlings watching something . I look up and swear it is two groundhogs chasing a deer!! No way, I say- then unbelievably realize it is two little Dachsunds bouncing up and down across the field and into the woods. Gone , like they had never been there-but they were. Strange.

It was too humid to do the hernia surgery (anaesthesia affects a foal's body-cooling mechanisms) so she has a break until Thursday. Saturday it rained 5 inches in a couple hours. My bridge to the back fields lifted and moved for the first time ever. The next morning I drove the Gator to feed, came to the bridge and thought it was really muddy but went across and fell 18 inches on the other side. Now I'll need a 'dozer to push it back into place. Oh well , the horses all seemed fine and the farm IS very green this year.

I saw wild turkeys this morning as well as a big horned owl and several hawks. These birds are so beautiful and I am so lucky to see them so close.

Wednesday night- Aug 20th

I am sad that my daughter has gone back to Los Angeles, but we had a terrific visit. Now it is back to horses. It has been so hot and humid here, a little break in the heat wold be nice. Tomorrow morning the vet is coming early to do a hernia repair on one of the weanling fillies. I hope it is a little cooler. She will need to stay in the stall for couple of weeks , so I bedded it today with clean straw. Always smells so good. Last week I brought my old guy, Lestat, in for the blacksmith and I put him in this stall ( the hernia repair had been scheduled for last week). He looked around, gave a sigh and just lay down. All day! He was so glad to come in from the flies and be knee deep in fresh straw that he just stretched out and reveled in it. You know, I do the same thing at night when I get into bed. Fresh sheets and just stretching out feels so good at the end of a long day. I understand completely. I let the old man stay in all day.

August 18th evening

I tried to write something all day and things just kept happening that seemed more pressing at the time. Now, at 10pm I think what happened to the whole day. I was going to write about hound walking (an essential part of foxhunting, especially if you are a whipper-in like me-more about that later). The puppies are cute and I am still trying to learn the names of last years entry.

But I had to work the yearlings in the round pen , so the blog waited. Then, the insurance company calls started about the car accident last Friday. Oh my god- don't ever have an accident-it will make you want to strangle people. That's how I feel.

Then it was feed time suddenly, but I needed to get to the train station to pick up my daughter. So it was a mad dash on the gator ( a 4 wheeler marvel for horse people-couldn't live without it) throwing feed into buckets and slinging hay at hurt horses in stalls. They must think I am a crazy lady a times! Mad drive to Amtrak, then Annapolis, then meet husband, who needs some care sometimes. He must think I'm a crazy lady, too, at times.

Then at 8pm I'm mucking stalls so I can go to NYC tomorrow with my daughter who is suppose to meet a director ( she is visiting from LA and is an aspiring actress). There is a wicked thunderstorm which has the yearlings convinced tht they are NOT supposed to leave the safety of the barn even tho' I am begging at this point. All this brings me to now and a not-so-serene blog at 10pm. I am still putting the picture of the cute puppies up tho'.

Monday mornings

This is my favorite time of day. It is 6 am and I have a cup of coffee on the side patio and watch the day start. It is gray , then some color comes into the early light. Mig and Red, the two foxhunters are hopefully looking at me from the side pasture. (my son wondered if the next one would be called Commie-he has a strange way of being slightly interested in the horses). I can hear the broodmares softly nickering in the bottom field, the resident owl is also softly hooting in the distance. The early sounds are reassuring. It is rythymically the same every day. The crickets are rasping, the early sondbirds do their thing- I wish I recognized more birds by their call. The hawk who lives on the farm sometimes is around early on a fencepost , just watching. I watch him watch, if I move he just swoops off. It slowly gets hotter and lighter, the sun ball coming over the treetops and the cricket hum rises. I wonder if scientifically that corollates- the hum of crickets getting louder as it warms up, but I don,t remember noticing them midday- hum.

The foxhunters have given up and moved to the bottom of th field to talk to the weanlings who are watching from across the fence. I have two fillies this year. The kids and I muse about names (even tho' I often do not officially name them if they are oing to the sales). The first is by a sire named Chapel Royal out of a mare named Tiger in my Tank- I need something like Royal Tigress, if it was a colt I would try for Sher Khan. The Jockey Club has to approve names and many are already taken. The other filly is by St. Averil out of Hope for the Cat. She is very beautiful, mainly black with a star. My daughter suggested St. Hope. These are the things I think about as I sip my first cup of coffee and watch the morning unfold- a promise f a new day.

Beginnings

This is a window into life on a small Thoroughbred horse farm in Maryland, USA. There are about twenty horses on the farm, give or take, depending on who is racing, having a baby, or (part of life) dying. The six broodmares are all pregnant this year, two yearlings are prepping for the fall sales, two weanlings are dealing with leaving Mother, the older babysitters are already bored. The retired racehorses are chilling in the back, the teaser ( Lestat, by name, who tells me when the mares are interested) is reliving the spring season! The foxhunters are getting antsy in the cool mornings, waiting for the beginning of cubbing (early morning foxhunting). Strike A Blow Lass (Chessie for short) is at Laurel Racetrack about to make her two-year old debut.

I have just come back from the Saratoga Sales, where the most magnificent horses go thru the sales ring, in front of the rich and famous. I saw Rachel Alexandra, Mine That Bird, and Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum- literally I bumped into him. My husband had told me if I saw him to say -"Asalam Mal'akim" (peace be upon you). But, in the moment I forgot it all and was afraid I would insult his goats- so I just faked a phone call and took his picture. It was awesome and I returned knowing I had a lot more grooming and "rubbing " to do on my yearlings to make them magnificent.

Today, is my birthday and I survived a nasty car accident on Friday and my daughter is visiting, helping me start this blog. So, with this encouragement I am going to tell people about life on the farm!